Inhibition of Respiratory Syncytial virus-induced cell fusion by amidino compounds

ABSTRACT

A number of aromatic mono- and bis-amidines are capable of blocking cell fusion induced by Respiratory Syncytial (RS) virus. Suitable amidino compounds include those selected from the group consisting of 1-4-di(4-amidinophenoxy)-2-butanol; bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)methane; 1,2-bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)ethane; 5-amidino-indole; 5-amidinobenzimidazole, 5-amidino-1-methylindole and 5-amidino-1-(4-amidinobenzyl)indole. The most powerful of the compounds, bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)methane (BABIM), is able to achieve complete suppression of syncytium formation at a concentration of 1 μM. Inhibition occurs in RS virus-infected Hep-2 cells as well as CV-1 cells. BABIM also causes a significant retardation of RS virus penetration, but does not interfere with adsorption. Addition of the amidines after the penetration of RS virus does not affect single cycle yields. The compounds may be used in the prophylactic control of RS virus in man.

The invention described relates to a method for inhibiting RespiratorySyncytial Virus-induced cell fusion and was made in the course of workunder a grant or award from the Department of Health, Education andWelfare.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 366,652, filed Apr. 8, 1982and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,863, which application was a divisional ofSer. No. 181,341, filed Aug. 26, 1980 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,794.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In man, respiratory syncytial (RS) virus is responsible for the majorityof respiratory illness suffered by children during the first five yearsof life. Symptoms are those of coryza, bronchitis and bronchopneumoniaand may last from days to several weeks. While recovery is the usualoutcome, morbidity is often quite significant and may necessitateaggressive symptomatic clinical treatment including mechanicalrespiratory assistance. Epidemiologic studies also suggest thepossibility of a causal relationship between overt RS virus infectionand the development of asthma later in childhood. Despite recognition ofthe clinical and economic importance of RS virus infections, neitherpreventive nor suppressive treatment is available. Attempts to provideactive vaccination have met with failure, and as yet no effectiveanti-viral drug has been found. This state of affairs has led to thepresent invention providing for new avenues to the control of the virus.

RS virus has been grouped as a member for a genus pneumovirus within thefamily of paramyxoviridae. Like the other two genera in this family,i.e., the paramyxoviruses and the morbilliviruses, it is characterizedby a helical arrangement of the RNA-containing nucleocapsid, by thepossession of an outer envelope bearing numerous projections ("spikes")and by its ability to produce cell fusion in tissue cultures. For atleast three members of the genus paramyxovirus, i.e., Sendai virus, 6/94virus, and Newcastle disease virus, a trypsin-like proteolytic activityis a necessary factor in achieving full expression of the biologicproperties of the virions (Scheid and Choppin, Identification ofbiological activities of paramyxovirus glycoproteins. Activation of cellfusion, hemolysis, and infectivity by proteolytic cleavage of aninactive precursor protein of Sendai virus. Virology 57, 475-490 (1974);Waters et al., The potential role of phagocytically active cells inestablishing chronic parainfluenza 1 virus infections in human brain J.Neur. Sci. 25, 491-498 (1975): Nagai and Klenk, Activation of precursorsto both glycoproteins of Newcastle disease virus by proteolyticcleavage. Virology 77, 125-134 (1977). It has been clearly demonstratedthat the action of the putative enzyme involves the post-translationalcleavage of a virion glycoprotein which is changed from an inactiveprecursor into an active fusion (F) protein. The F protein plays acentral role in the fusion of virions with cell membranes, in theformation of the characteristic syncytia in cell cultures and also inthe virus-dependent lysis of red cells (Scheid and Choppin, supra.Biologically, the factor controls infectivity and virulence of theviruses and the severity of the cytopathic effect.

The general similarities in both the morphologic and cytopathogeniccharacteristics of these three viruses and RS virus suggested to us thepossibility that a protease might also participate in the replication ofthe latter agents. If so, suppression of the cleavage event could beexpected to interfere with the cytotoxic activities and with thereplication of the viruses (Korant, Proteolytic events in viralreplication. In Molecular Basis of Biological Degradative Processes. (R.D. Berlin, H. Herrmann, I. H. Lepow, and J. M. Tanzer, eds.), pp.171-224, Academic Press, New York, 1978). To this end, RS virus wascultured in the presence of a series of reversible inhibitors ofarginine-directed (i.e., trypsin-like) esteroproteases. Theinvestigation led to the discovery of seven compounds which stronglyblocked RS virus-induced cell fusion. It should be noted, thatinhibitory potency per se does not allow any judgment as to the mode ofaction of the compounds. Inhibition of posttranslational hydrolyticcleavage of virus proteins, may play a role, but may not be the only, oreven the major factor involved.

Despite recognition of the clinical and economic importance of RS virusinfections, neither effective preventive nor suppressive treatment isavailable. Attempts to provide active vaccination have met with failure,and as yet no effective antiviral drug has been found. This state ofaffairs has led to the present invention providing for new avenues tothe control of the virus.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea method for inhibiting Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Induced Cell Fusion.

This and other objects of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the discussion below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Cell fusion induced by Respiratory Syncytial Virus is inhibitedaccording to the present invention by several aromatic mono- andbis-amidines.

Among the aromatic amidino compounds which have been found to beinhibitively effective against RS virus are those selected from thegroup consisting of 1-4-di(4-amidinophenoxy)-2-butanol;bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidiazolyl)methane;1,2-bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)ethane; 5-amidinoindole,5-amidinobenzimidazole, 5-amidino-1-methylindole and5-amidino-1-(4-amidinobenzyl)indole. These compounds are active whencontacted with cells susceptible to RS virus induced fusion in aninhibitory effective amount. Suitable dosages of the specific amidinocompounds range from about 1.0 to 10.0 μM.

While the group most seriously hit by RS virus is children ranging fromsix months to two years of age, there is a substantial problem in olderage groups, particularly those confined in extended care facilities andretirement homes. It is therefore also contemplated according to thepresent invention that the effective amidino compounds be administeredto individuals in an effective amount to provide prophylactic treatmentand thereby avoid epidemics of RS virus. The mode of administration canbe oral, by inhalation or parenteral. Since the effect of the compoundsappears to be a surface activity, there is no apparent need to penetratethe cell in order to be effective in preventing or inhibiting fusion ofcells.

The inhibitory activity of the amidines is not dependent on a singletype of host cell, but occurs with any of several cell lines which aresusceptible to the characteristic cytopathic effect of RS virus. Thesuppressive effect is virus specific, however, and does not extend tocell fusion induced by P-3 virus or the MP mutant of herpes simplextype 1. Though the compounds do not interfere with virus adsorption orwith replication per se, they do retard or block penetration, and reducethe yield from multiple growth cycles of RS virus. As a possibleexplanation for these findings and not wishing to be limited thereto, itis believed that the inhibitors impede the fusion of the virions withthe cell membrane if added to the monolayers together with the virus,and that they block fusion from within if added after the adsorption andpenetration period. It also follows that under the latter condition anynewly formed and released virions would be hindered from infectingadjacent cells and that spread under a multiple cycle growth patternwould therefore be restricted. This was well demonstratedmorphologically by the focal limitation of the cytopathic effect at lowmultiplicities of infection by RS virus.

The aromatic mono-amidines and aromatic bis-amidines which may beemployed according to the present invention are compounds 5, 7, 8, 9,11, 12 and 13 set forth in Table 1.

                                      TABLE 1                                     __________________________________________________________________________    Compound. No.                                                                          Name                  Amidine Structure.sup.a                        __________________________________________________________________________    1        Benzamidine                                                                                          ##STR1##                                      2        Pentamidine                                                                                          ##STR2##                                      3        1-(4-Amidinophenoxy-6-phenoxyhexane                                                                  ##STR3##                                      4        1-(4-Amidinophenoxy)-8-phenoxyoctane                                                                 ##STR4##                                      5        1,4-Di(4-amidinophenoxy)-2-butanol                                                                   ##STR5##                                      6        α,α'-Bis(4-amidino-2-iodophenoxy)-m-xylene                                               ##STR6##                                      7        Bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)methane                                                               ##STR7##                                      8        1,2-Bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)ethane                                                            ##STR8##                                      9        5-Amidinoindole                                                                                      ##STR9##                                      10       5-Amidinobenzofuran                                                                                  ##STR10##                                     11       5-Amidinobenzimidazole                                                                               ##STR11##                                     12       5-Amidino-1-methylindole                                                                             ##STR12##                                     13       5-Amidino-1-(4-amidinobenzyl)indole                                                                  ##STR13##                                     __________________________________________________________________________     ##STR14##                                                                

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The influence of the aforementioned amidino compounds (Table 1) on RSvirus was revealed by their effect on various aspects of virus growth incell cultures. For an inhibitor to be judged acceptable, cell toxicityhad to be excluded as the basis of the observed anti-RS virus activity.The specificity of the compounds was demonstrated by their inability tointerfere with the growth of other viruses studied.

The Examples below are offered to more fully describe the presentinvention, but are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Viruses and Cell Cultures

Hep-2, HeLa, and CV-1 cells were propagated in Eagle minimal essentialmedium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). Inexperiments involving protease inhibitors, Hep-2 cells were used betweenpassages 371 and 377.

An A₂ strain of RS virus was grown in Hep-2 cells. Stock cultures ofvirus were prepared by inoculating suspensions of Hep-2 cells. Followingvirus adsorption, the infected cells were seeded in 250 ml plasticculture flasks containing MEM plus 10% FCS. When viral cytopathiceffects were maximal (72-96 hr.) the flasks were frozen at -70° C.Typical lysates contained 10⁷ -10⁸ TCID_(50/ml).

Parainfluenza type 3 (P-3) was obtained from the Research ResourcesBranch, NIAID (cat #V-323-002-020). Stocks of P-3 were produced in HeLacells by infecting confluent monolayers and harvesting culture fluidafter 48 hrs. Stock cultures containing 10⁸ TCID_(50/ml) were stored at-70° C.

A polykaryoctye-forming mutant (MP) of herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) wasalso employed.

All virus stocks and cell lines were determined to be free of mycoplasmacontamination by a modification of the fluorochrome technique of Chen.(In situ determination of mycoplasma contamination in cell cultures byfluorescent Hoeshst 33258 stain. Experimental Cell Research, 104,255-262 (1977)).

Viral Titrations

Virus yields were quantitated by calculating 50 percent end pointsaccording to the method of Reed and Muench (A simple method forestimating fifty percent end-points. Am. J. Hyg. b 27, 493-497 (1938)).Briefly, 0.05 ml of virus diluted in MEM plus 10% FCS was added tomicro-titer plates. This was followed by the addition of 40,000-60,000Hep-2 cells in a volume of 0.05 ml. Plates were incubated at 36° C. for5-7 days. Six or eight wells were used for each dilution. Standard erroranalysis was done according to the method of Pizzi (Sampling variationof the fifty percent endpoint determined by the Reed-Muench (Behrens)method. Human Biol. 22, 151-180 (1950)).

Amidino Compounds

Thirteen competitive, reversible inhibitors of trypsin-like enzymesselected for this study are listed with their structures in Table 1. Thefirst compound, benzamidine, represents the prototype of inhibitors withan amidine nature, and since the time it was first described byMares-Guia and Shaw (Studies on the active center of trypsin. Thebinding of amidines and guanidines as models of the substrate sidechain. J. Biol. Chem. 140, 1579-1585 (1965)) it has served as a keybuilding block for other, more potent agents, such as compounds no. 2-6.Pentamidine, which is active against a wide variety of trypsin-likeenzymes, is generally an order of magnitude more effective thanbenzamidine (Geratz, Specific low-molecular weight inhibitors oftrypsin. Their structure-activity relationships and possible clinicaluses. In Pulmonary Emphysema and Proteolysis. (C. Mittman, ed.) pp.325-340. Academic Press, New York, 1972; Geratz et al.,Diamidino-α,ω-diphenoxylalkanes. Structure-activity relationships forthe inhibition of thrombin, pancreatic kallikrein, and trypsin. J. Med.Chem., 16,970-975, 1973; Geratz and Tidwell, The development ofcompetitive reversible thrombin inhibitors. In Chemistry and Biology ofThrombin. (R. L. Lundblad, J. W. Fenton, II, and K. G. Mann, eds.), pp.179-196, Ann Arbor Science, 1977). Compounds 3 and 4 are similar instructure to pentamidine, but they possess only a single amidino groupand are endowed with increased hydrophobicity as a consequence of thelengthened hydrocarbon chain. Compound 5 represents a strong inhibitorof the plasminogen activator urokinase with a K_(i) value of 3.2×10⁻⁶ M(Geratz and Cheng, The inhibition of urokinase by aromatic diamidines.Thromb. Diath. Haemorrh. 33, 230-243, 1975), while no. 6 is one of themost powerful inhibitors of pancreatic kallikrein with a K_(i) value of3.1×10⁻⁸ M (Geratz et al., Novel bis(benzamidino) compounds with anaromatic central link. Inhibitors of thrombin, pancreatic kallikrein,trypsin, and complement. J. Med. Chem., 19, 634-639, 1976). In no. 7 weselected the amidino compound with the greatest antitrypsin activity sofar reported (K_(i) =1.8×10⁻⁸ M) (Tidwell et al., Diarylamidinederivatives with one or both of the aryl moieties consisting of anindole or indole-like ring. Inhibitors of arginine-specificesteroproteases. J. Med. Chem. 21, 613-623, 1978), and in no. 8 itsclosest homolog was included, differing from the parent compound only bybearing an additional hydrocarbon in the central molecular chain.Compounds 9-11 are isosteric amidino-substituted heterocycles of smallmolecular size which can be accommodated solely in the specificitypockets of their target enzymes and achieves much tighter binding thanbenzamidine (Geratz et al., Amidino-substituted aromatic heterocycles asprobes of the specificity pocket of trypsin-like proteases. Arch.Biochem. Biophys., 197, 551-560, 1979). Compounds 12 and 13, finally,are derivatives of 5-amidinoindole bearing a substitution on the indolenitrogen (Geratz et al., 1979, ibid.).

Compounds 3 and 4 were synthesized in our laboratory and have not beenpreviously reported. The two novel derivatives were prepared andpurified according to a general synthetic procedure for the synthesis ofunsymmetrical α,ω-diphenoxyalkane derivatives (Geratz et al.,Diamidino-α,ω-diphenoxylalkanes. Structure-activity relationships forthe inhibition of thrombin, pancreatic kallikrein, and trypsin. J. Med.Chem., 16, 970-975, 1973). The melting points (M.P.) and elementalanalyses of compounds 3 and 4 are as follows:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Compound 3:                                                                             C.sub.19 H.sub.24 N.sub.2 O.sub.2.HCl                                                    Molecular Weight = 348.88                                M.P. = 290-292° C.                                                               Analysis:        C  H   N                                                                Calculated                                                                          65.42                                                                            7.22                                                                              8.03                                                             Found 65.32                                                                            7.02                                                                              8.29                                        Compound 4:                                                                             C.sub.21 H.sub.28 N.sub.2 O.sub.2 HCl.O.5H.sub.2                                         Molecular Weight = 385.93                                M.P. = 100-102° C.                                                               Analysis:        C  H   N                                                                Calculated                                                                          65.35                                                                            7.83                                                                              7.25                                                             Found 65.58                                                                            8.07                                                                              7.34                                        __________________________________________________________________________

The melting points were determined on a Thomas-Hoover capillary meltingpoint apparatus and are uncorrected.

Inhibitor Studies

Hep-2 cells or CV-1 cells were seeded in well trays to containapproximately 10⁶ cells per well at 72 hrs. RS virus or P-3 virus addedat various input multiplicities of infection in 0.2 ml was adsorbed for2 hrs. at 36° C. Following this period, the wells were rinsed twice with1 ml of MEM and received either inhibitor-containing or control mediaconsisting of MEM with 2% FCS and 1% methyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Cellviability was measured by trypan blue exclusion and cytopathology werescored at 24 and 40 hr. following addition of the inhibitors. Totalvirus yields from cultures harvested at 40 hr. post infection weredetermined following one freeze-thaw cycle at -70° C.

The effect of the inhibitors on viral penetration (Table 6) wasdetermined as follows: RS virus grown in the presence or absence ofcompound 7 was serially diluted in MEM containing 2% FCS and 1% DMSOwith or without 50 μM of compound 7. Aliquots of 0.05 ml were added towells of microtiter plates containing monolayers of Hep-2 cells. Viruswas adsorbed for 2 hrs. at 36° C. RS virus and then antiserum diluted1:8 in MEM, was added to the appropriate wells. Following an additionalone hour of incubation, all monolayers were then rinsed and overlayedwith 0.1 ml of MEM plus 5% FCS. Titers were determined at 5-7 days.

RESULTS The Effect of Amidino Compounds on Cell Viability

In order to separate the cytotoxic properties of the inhibitors fromspecific antiviral activities, Hep-2 cell cultures incubated with eachof the compounds for 24 and 40 hrs. were examined for viability by thetrypan blue exclusion test. Table 2 lists as toxic concentrations ofinhibitors which resulted in the uptake of dye by more than 10% of thecells harvested. Among the 13 compounds investigated, only no. 2(pentamidine) and no. 1 (benzamidine) had previously been tested fortheir cytotoxic potential. The former reduced cell growth rates atconcentrations of 5-40 μM (Goldberg et al., Plasminogen activators oftransformed and normal cells. In Proteases and Biological Control (E.Reich, D. B. Rifkin, and E. Shaw, eds.), pp. 857-868, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory, 1975) and the latter at concentrations greater than 500 μM(Taylor and Lembach, Reversible inhibition of cell multiplication invitro by inhibitors of arginine esteroproteases. Biochim. Biophys. Acta329, 58-71, 1973). Those concentrations of the two agents are in thesame general range in which clear-cut toxicity was observed in thepresent assay system (Table 2). From the data in Table 2 it can also beseen that only one other compound, no. 6, was as toxic as pentamidine.Five inhibitors, nos. 3-5, 12 and 13 were intermediate in theircytotoxicity, and an additional five, nos. 7-11, possessed the same oreven less toxic activity than benzamidine. It was also established thatHep-2 cells are not unique in their response to amidines. An identicalpattern of toxicity was observed with a representative group of thecompounds (nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7) when tested on three other cell lines,i.e., A549 (human lung), CV-1 (monkey kidney), and BHK-21 (hamsterkidney) (data not shown).

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                        Cytotoxic Effect of Amidines on Hep-2 Cell Viability                          Compound Concentration (μM)                                                Number   5000   1000    500  100   50  10   1.0 0.1                           ______________________________________                                        1        T.sup.1                                                                              nd.sup.2                                                                              T    nd    C.sup.3                                                                           nd   nd  nd                            2        T      nd      T    nd    T   T    C   C                             3        nd     T       nd   T     nd  C    nd  nd                            4        nd     T       nd   T     nd  C    nd  nd                            5        nd     T       nd   T     nd  C    C   C                             6        nd     T       nd   T     nd  T    C   C                             7        T      nd      C    nd    C   C    C   C                             8        nd     T       nd   C     nd  C    C   C                             9        nd     T       nd   C     nd  C    C   C                             10       nd     T       nd   C     nd  C    nd  nd                            11       nd     nd      nd   C     nd  C    C   C                             12       nd     nd      nd   T     nd  C    C   C                             13       nd     nd      nd   T     nd  C    C   C                             ______________________________________                                         .sup.1 Toxic                                                                  .sup.2 not done                                                               .sup.3 Control viability (no cytotoxicity)                               

Influence of Amidino Compounds on the Cytopathic Effects of RS Virus andP-3 Virus

The role of proteolytic modification of viral glycoproteins in theactivation of cell fusing activity is well established forparamyxoviruses. With this in mind, the presence or absence of syncytiumformation was initially used to score the impact of the proteaseinhibitors on the replication of RS virus and P-3 virus. The amidinocompounds were added to the Hep-2 cell cultures after viral adsorptionand penetration (2 hour post infection). Therefore, anyinhibitor-related modification of the cytopathic effects must have hadits origin in the alteration of the later stages of virus replication.All compounds were tested in serial dilutions and syncytium formationwas evaluated by inspection of infected cultures at low microscopicpower. In the case of P-3 virus, none of the compounds exhibited anyeffect on the cytopathic effect and inhibitor-treated cultures weremorphologically identical to the control. This was in striking contrastto the RS virus-infected cultures in which seven compounds (nos. 5, 7-9,11, 12 and 13) suppressed the appearance of the characteristic syncytia(Table 3). One of the amidines (no. 7) was active at concentrations atleast 100 times lower than their cytotoxic level. The structuralspecificity of the inhibition is shown by the ability of compound 7 toinhibit syncytium formation at a concentration as low as 1.0 μM and bythe lower activity of compound 8 which is a structural homolog ofcompound 7.

Morphologically, the changes in the RS virus cytopathic effect producedby the inhibitors were easily recognized. Uninfected control culturesshowed some single rounded cells of the monolayer while virus-infectedHep-2 cells (multiplicities of infection 1-2, 40 hrs. post infection)had formed syncytia of varying sizes. Treatment of RS virus-infectedcells with a 1.0 μM concentration of compound 7 resulted in abolition offusion to the extent that infected monolayers did not appear differentthan uninfected controls.

The modification of the cytopathic effect at the level of individualfoci of infection (multiplicity of infection 0.01, 96 hrs. postinfection) was also striking. The characteristic pattern of RS virus cpein Hep-2 cells involves the fusion of cells adjacent to the initiallyinfected cell. This results in the progressive enlargement of thesyncytium until the edges of the syncytium begin to contract. Thiscontraction results in a thinning of the mono-layer around the syncytiumor the development of an area devoid of cells. In the presence of theinhibitors, no fusion of cells was seen at the focus of infection.Instead, the infected cells aggregate, forming clusters of non-fusedcells with no apparent thinning of the adjacent monolayer.

This reduction of cytopathology was even more obvious in RS virusinfected CV-1 cells examined at 8 days post infection. It was observedthat in untreated infected cultures over 50% of the monolayer wasdestroyed during the multiple cycles of RS virus growth. However,treatment of similarly infected CV-1 cells with a 50 μM concentration ofcompound 7 resulted in the preservation of the monolayer with individualfoci of infection appearing to be inhibited in their spread touninfected areas of the culture. This inhibition of the RS viruscytopathic effect was not due to toxicity of compound 7 over a prolongedperiod of cell exposure. CV-1 cells maintained in a medium containing a50 μM concentration of compound 7 for 6 days produced normal yields ofP-3 and HSV-1 when challenged on day 6. It should also be noted thatcompound 7 had no effect on the ability of the MP mutant of HSV-1 tofuse CV-1 cells.

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                        Effect of Amidines on RS Virus Cytopathology                                  Compound                                                                              Concentration (μM)                                                 Number  1000    500    100   50   10    1.0  0.1                              ______________________________________                                        1       nd.sup.1                                                                              T.sup.2                                                                              nd    S.sup.3                                                                            nd    nd   nd                               2       nd      T      nd    T    T     S    S                                3       T       nd     T     nd   S     nd   nd                               4       T       nd     T     nd   S     nd   nd                               5       T       nd     T     nd   NS.sup.4                                                                            S    S                                6       T       nd     T     nd   T     S    S                                7       nd      NS     nd    NS   NS    NS   S                                8       T       nd     NS    NS   NS    S    S                                9       T       nd     NS    NS   NS    S    S                                10      T       nd     S     nd   S     nd   nd                               11      nd      nd     NS    nd   S     S    nd                               12      nd      nd     nd    nd   NS    NS   NS                               13      nd      nd     nd    nd   NS    S    S                                ______________________________________                                         .sup.1 not done                                                               .sup.2 Toxic                                                                  .sup.3 Syncytia Present                                                       .sup.4 Absence of Characteristic Syncytial Development                   

Effect of Amidines on The Yields of RS Virus and P-3 Virus

With paramyxoviruses, the coordinate expression of infectivity and theability to induce cell fusion strongly suggests that these twoactivities are controlled by the same viral protein. The relationshipbetween infectivity and cell fusion has not been established for RSvirus. The availability of the fusion inhibitors permitted us to examinethis question for RS virus. With a large inoculum (multiplicities ofinfection 1-2) added prior to the addition of the inhibitors, thesuppression of virus-induced cell fusion had no detrimental effect onessentially single-cycle yields of RS virus as shown in Table 4. Lowerthan control values were obtained only in those instances where toxicityhad been demonstrated (Table 2). In fact, the yield data seem toduplicate the findings with the trypan blue exclusion test indicatingthat the outcome of either assay reflects the integrity and competenceof the inhibitor-treated cells. In addition, the amidino compounds didnot alter the yields of P-3 virus at high multiplicities of infection.

                  TABLE 4                                                         ______________________________________                                        Effect of Amidines on Single Cycle Yields of RS Virus                         Compound                                                                              Concentrations (μM)                                                Number  1000   500       100    50      10                                    ______________________________________                                        1       nd.sup.a                                                                             2.8 × 10.sup.4c                                                                   nd     1.1 × 10.sup.7                                                                  nd                                    2       nd     T.sup.b   nd     6.3 × 10.sup.4                                                                  nd                                    3       T      nd        T      nd      3.5 × 10.sup.7                  4       T      nd        T      nd      3.5 × 10.sup.7                  5       T      nd        5.0 × 10.sup.5                                                                 nd      0.5 × 10.sup.7                  6       T      nd        T      nd      6.3 × 10.sup.6                  7       nd     2.0 × 10.sup.7                                                                    nd     6.3 × 10.sup.7                                                                  nd                                    8       T      nd        7.9 × 10.sup.7                                                                 nd      6.3 × 10.sup.7                  9       T      nd        6.3 × 10.sup.7                                                                 nd      2.9 × 10.sup.7                  10      T      nd        6.3 × 10.sup.7                                                                 nd      1.1 × 10.sup.7                  11      nd     nd        8.7 × 10.sup.7                                                                 nd      nd                                    12      nd     nd        nd     nd      nd                                    13      nd     nd        nd     nd      nd                                    ______________________________________                                         .sup.8 not done                                                                .sup.b Toxic                                                                 .sup.c RS virus titers in TCID.sub.50/ml                                      Control RS virus titers 1-5 × 10.sup.7   At low multiplicities of       infection, however, the findings were different from those just discussed.     For these experiments, Hep- 2 cells were infected with either RS virus or     P-3 virus at multiplicities of infection of 0.1, 0.01, or 0.001. Following     a 2 hour adsorption period, the cultures received medium with or without a     50 μM concentration of compound 7. The monolayers were harvested after     multiple cycles of replication and the yields were determined in     inhibitor-free microtiter assays. As shown in Table 5, considerably less     RS virus was obtained from the inhibitor-treated monolayers than from the     controls. This confirmed the impressions from the earlier visual     observations that presence of inhibitor greatly reduced the spreading of     RS virus. Even at high multiplicities of infection, pretreatment of Hep-2     cells with a 50 μM concentration of compound 7 resulted in a 1-2 log     reduction of RS yields. The results in Table 5 also reveal that the     inhibitor produced a slight, but consistent decrease in the yield of P-3     virus.

                  TABLE 5                                                         ______________________________________                                        Multiple Cycle Yields of RS Virus and P-3 Virus                                               Yields (TCID.sub.50 /ml)                                      Virus      moi        Control  Treated.sup.d                                  ______________________________________                                        RS         0.1.sup.a  5.0 × 10.sup.7                                                                   6.3 × 10.sup.6                           RS         0.01.sup.b 3.2 × 10.sup.7                                                                   1.2 × 10.sup.5                           RS         0.001.sup.b                                                                              2.8 × 10.sup.6                                                                   1.1 × 10.sup.4                           P-3        0.1.sup.c  3.5 × 10.sup.8                                                                   7.9 × 10.sup.7                           P-3        0.01.sup.c 7.9 × 10.sup.7                                                                   4.6 × 10.sup.7                           P-3        0.001.sup.a                                                                              2.0 × 10.sup.8                                                                   6.3 × 10.sup.7                           ______________________________________                                         .sup.a Harvested 72 hr post infection                                         .sup.b Harvested 120 hr post infection                                        .sup.c Harvested 48 hr post infection                                         .sup.d 50 μM compound 7                                               

Effect of Compound 7 on Adsorption and Penetration of RS Virus

In the following experiments, the ability of compound 7 to interferewith adsorption and/or penetration of RS virus was studied sincerestrictions in these areas of the infection cycle could explain thedata in Table 5. Interference with viral penetration can be assessed bydetermining whether adsorbed virus is accessible to virus specificantiserum. This approach was used employing a modification of thestandard TCID₅₀ assay of RS virus.

Briefly, RS virus was grown on Hep-2 cell monolayers in the absence orpresence of a 50 μM concentration of compound 7. After 40 hours, thesupernatant was harvested and serially diluted in MEM with or without 50μM of compound 7. A 0.05 ml aliquot of each dilution was added to eightpreformed Hep-2 cell monolayers in microtiter plates. Following a 2 houradsorption period at 36° C., 0.05 ml of either MEM or MEM containing a1:8 dilution of RS virus antiserum was added to the wells and theincubation continued for an additional hour. The monolayers were thenrinsed and overlayed with 0.1 ml of MEM plus 5% FCS. Titers weredetermined at 5-7 days.

From the data in Table 6, it is evident that attachment of the virus wasnot blocked by the inhibitor because the final titers in group 2 versus4 and group 6 versus 8 were identical. Since the inocula in these groupswere all removed at the same time, any interference with adsorptionshould have expressed itself in a reduction in titer in theinhibitor-containing assays as compared to the inhibitor-free controls.A comparison of groups 3 versus 4 and groups 6 versus 7 shows that theaddition of antiserum to the inhibitor-free virus cultures did notsignificantly affect the final titer, i.e., most of the adsorbed virushad already penetrated the cells by 2 hours and was beyondneutralization by antibodies. However, if inhibitor was present duringthe adsorption period and the cultures were then exposed to antiserum, asignificant reduction in titer was observed as compared to theinhibitor-free, antiserum-treated controls (group 1 versus 3; group 5versus 7). These findings indicate that a delay in RS virsus penetrationoccurred under the influence of inhibitor so that the varions remainedsusceptible to the inactivating effect of the antiserum.

It should also be noted that the RS virus which had replicated in thepresence of inhibitor (RSI series in Table 6) did not behave differentlyfrom the control (C series) which had been grown in the absence ofinhibitor. With virus from both sources, penetration was delayed to asimilar degree and, as already pointed out, there was not interferencewith adsorption. This result argues against the idea that inhibition byamidines of post-translational proteolytic modification of newlysynthesized viral proteins was responsible for the delay in viralpenetration. There was recorded, however, throughout all control groupsa higher titer than in the RSI series. Since only released virus and nottotal virus was harvested, no significance can be attached to thedifferences between the RSI series and the control series.

                  TABLE 6                                                         ______________________________________                                        Effect of Fusion Inhibitor on the                                             Penetration of RS Virus                                                       Titer  Titer           TCID.sub.50                                                                            Standard                                      #      Conditions      (Log 10) Error                                         ______________________________________                                        1      RSI + I + A     4.11     .33                                           2      RSI + I + A     5.97     .26                                           3      RSI - I + A     5.50     .30                                           4      RSI - I + A     5.97     .26                                           5       C + I + A      5.59     .31                                           6       C + I - A      6.92     .37                                           7       C - I + A      6.73     .24                                           8       C - I + A      6.97     .26                                           ______________________________________                                         RSI = RS virus grown in presence of cpd 7 (50 μM)                          C = RS virus grown in absence of cpd 7                                        +I = Presence of cpd 7 during adsorption of RS virus                          -I = Absence of cpd 7 during adsorption of RS virus                           +A = Addition of antiRS serum 2 hrs. after addition of virus to Hep2 cell     monolayers                                                                    -A = No antiRS serum treatment                                           

The invention having thus described, it will be apparent that variousdepartures can be made therefrom without departing from the scope orspirit thereof.

We claim:
 1. A method for the treatment of respiratory syncytialvirus-induced cell fusion which comprises administering to a host inneed of said treatment an effective amount of an aromatic amidinecompound selected from the group consisting of1-4-di(4-amidinophenoxy)-2-butanol; 5-amidino-benzimidazole; and5-amidino-1-(4-amidinobenzyl)indole.
 2. The method of claim 1 whereinthe host is a human.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said amidine is5-amidino-1(4-amidinobenzyl)indole.
 4. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid amidine is administered in an effective amount ranging from about1.0 to 10.0 μM.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the mode ofadministration is oral.